Giant Wheatfield development project falls through

WHEATFIELD – A 230-unit residential community proposed for the north side of Niagara Falls Boulevard has been canceled by the developer because tests showed the soil was too weak to support the planned structures.

Tony Cutaia, president of Rane Property Management of Amherst, said the Meadows at Wheatfield, as the project was to be called, will not be built, and his company will not be buying the 24.2-acre site.

“You don’t want to roll the dice,” Cutaia said.

The location is a farm field where a popular corn maze is located each fall, near the intersections of the boulevard with Old Falls Boulevard and Arnold Drive.

The site adjoins a go-kart track that Rane also was interested in purchasing. Cutaia said that won’t happen now, either.

Town Attorney Robert J. O’Toole said a public hearing on rezoning part of the site was canceled after the application was dropped.

“The soil conditions were not suitable for the buildings we wanted to build,” Cutaia said. “The subsoil required too much foundation support for the three-story market [rate] apartment buildings.”

The Meadows at Wheatfield was supposed to include buildings of four, eight and 26 units, along with a restaurant, a clubhouse and a building combining residential and commercial space.

At the Jan. 26 Town Board meeting, Town Engineer Timothy J. Zuber said walking trails, gazebos, barbecue pits and a dog park had been added to the plan. The western entrance was to be lined up with the existing traffic signal at Old Falls Boulevard.

Cutaia said Rane had a contract to buy the land, but had not closed on it.

“We were under contract, but one of the conditions was ‘soil suitable for the buildings,’ ” Cutaia said.

He had ideas for the Adventure Landing go-kart track, too, although a sale contract had not been signed and now will not be.

“We wanted to do the project. We loved it. We were excited by it,” Cutaia said.

He said it’s possible that the project could be revived at some other location, although he has none in mind.